Hope for the Human Race

Now that I have your attention, I would like to explain the context behind the headline: The Zero By 2030 initiative for eliminating human deaths from rabies; and resulting pleasure of working collaboratively across private and public organizations towards a common goal.

Last week I attended the United Against Rabies consortium annual meeting, which includes WOAH, WHO, FAO, and UNEP, along with industry, and representatives from around the world – in particular from the most affected countries in Africa and Asia. This group has the stated mission to eliminate deaths from rabies in humans, which predominately comes from infected dogs. WOAH leads the effort behind Dr. Rachel Tidman, who works tirelessly across the world and organizations to move the group towards achieving this worthy objective.

At this year’s summit, which was hosted at the FAO headquarters in Rome, the group welcomed GAVI, which is the preeminent global vaccine alliance for humans into the effort. This means the Human Rabies vaccines will be included on their list of subsidized vaccines, which will create a real ‘One Health’ approach to solving the issue.

The energy of the group is incredible, which was augmented by the FAO HQ environment. We intermingled at lunch with the local FAO staff, and I was summarily impressed by everyone I talked to. The FAO is dedicated to sustainability and defeating hunger and the people there are fully committed to the objective. It was fun to be amongst them, if only for a short while.

Between the Zero by 2030 group, and FAO staff, I still believe there is hope for mankind!

Paul Casady

I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal titled, “You Can Tell Rover He’s a Bad Dog From 3,000 Miles Away”.  I laughed at some of the video clips attached to the article.  The article highlights how technology, and the use of home video cameras are being used to monitor pet behavior while we are out of the house or at work.

I find this a complete violation of pet privacy.  What happens when left alone adds to the surprise when you return home.  Gone are the days when you come home to find the trash strewn over the kitchen floor, pillows and shoes being shredded and plants being knocked over.  What has this world come to?

In the article pet trainers are asked how best to eliminate bad behaviors.  Scolding your dog or providing treats to distract them from their bad behavioral choices might not be the best approach.  They say the attention gained during periods of bad acting reinforces that behavior.  Trainers suggest talking to your pet when they are behaving well and reward proper behavior vs. negative reinforcement of bad behavior.

Technology is all around us: GPS tracking, remote treat dispensers, video cameras, etc. Our pets can’t get away with sneak attacks on the garbage pail or worse yet, the Christmas tree any longer.  I only hope governments don’t take extreme measures, implementing laws protecting the privacy of our pets while they are home alone.

Randy Freides

It’s earnings season and several companies’ reports are listed in today’s newsletter.  For the most part, revenue and earnings for animal health and petfood companies have remained strong.

Interestingly, many stock analysts interpret individual company’s revenues in the context of declining veterinary visits for pets.  But is that a good metric?  Veterinary expenses are paid out of discretionary income.  During the pandemic, when the government was pumping money into the economy – and many people were home and could easily take their pet to the vet – veterinary visits increased faster than normal.

Now, as household discretionary income is returning to normal, so are vet visits.  Yes, veterinary visits have declined from their highs.  But most practices are still very busy and practice owners tell us that they are seeing more normal visit patterns emerge.  Is it really appropriate to evaluate current revenues in light of a possible sales bump during the pandemic?  Perhaps it’s best to ignore the pandemic bubble when looking at company performance, and judge based on a longer-term perspective.

John Volk

This week we learned that Amazon is considering offering veterinary telehealth services, as well as partnering with Petco to offer return drop-offs at Petco locations. Pet owners are already familiar with Amazon as a source for pet products: a 2021 Packaged Facts report found that Amazon was the #1 online source for pet products, and accounted for nearly half of online pet product sales.  Pet supplies racked up $300 million in sales in two days during Amazon Prime day this past July; and Amazon featured an Amazon Pet Day in May with deals on pet products.

Despite their presence in the pet supplies category, Amazon wouldn’t be top-of-mind (at least in my mind) as a pet health provider. But they may be planning to offer the pet telehealth services as a value-added service for its Amazon Prime members. (This is the same strategy that Walmart announced this summer for its Walmart+ subscribers.)  According to Statista, there are 167 million Amazon Prime members in the US – that makes for a huge potential market for this new service.

Amazon began offering telehealth for humans earlier this year, so it’s not a great leap to envision them doing the same on the veterinary side. It will be interesting to see how a behemoth like Amazon navigates the regulatory minefield of veterinary telehealth, and whether this spurs growth in the use of veterinary telehealth.  They are sure to add money and muscle to lobbying efforts to legalize veterinary telehealth.

Lynn Fondon

Two items in the newsletter today strengthened my excitement for monoclonal antibodies in veterinary medicine.  With Zoetis now shipping Librela, the monoclonal antibody for pain in dogs, and Merck receiving conditional approval by the USDA’s CVB for their oncology product for dogs, gilvetmab, it seems like our industry should be excited.  Why?

First, it shows that animal health companies can and will bring new and innovative drug technologies to the veterinary market.  The market wants them and is willing to pay for them (think Cytopoint and Solensia, both from Zoetis).  Secondly, innovation is also great for the sales and marketing teams of animal health companies – it gives them new products to detail and should help deliver better medicines to veterinarians and outcomes for pet owners.  Third, because monoclonal antibodies are injected, rather than given orally, this will drive pets into clinics more frequently and will help keep the veterinarian and the veterinary technicians in the middle of the relationship between the pet and the pet owner.

We know from the results of our Sales Force Effectiveness Study that veterinarians really do differentiate animal health companies based on their ability to bring innovative products and services to them.  Our data shows that innovation is a driver of overall company performance and overall trust in the company.  We are clearly excited about the many positive opportunities and outcomes that monoclonal antibodies will bring to veterinary medicine.

Bob Jones

One of the fascinating things about the animal health industry is the opportunity for growth through developing new animal health technologies.  And there are opportunities around the world – Brazil is a good example.

Brazil is the fourth largest producer of tilapia in the world, producing 585,000 metric tons in 2022. The industry is still young, with a mortality rate of 40%. However, only 25% of fingerlings are vaccinated against major bacterial and viral diseases, including Streptococcus, Francisella, and ISKNv.

Professor Henrique Figueiredo of UFMG, in his presentation at the 2023 International Fish Congress, identified the following challenges for the development of tilapia aquaculture in Brazil:

• The need for polyvalent vaccines
• The development of oral and immersion vaccines
• The development of vaccines that cover the antigenic and genetic variants of circulating pathogens
• Technological solutions for the application of vaccines to large populations
• Improved biosecurity measures and management practices
• The use of other technologies to reduce the impact of diseases, such as tolerant tilapia strains, probiotics, and prebiotics

From vaccine development, vaccine delivery technology, genetic improvements, to health products delivered in feed – these are some of the opportunities in front of us for the advancement of farmed fish.  Oh, and just in case you didn’t know it, Brakke offers consulting services to the tilapia market.  Just ask.

Mauri Ronan Moreira

This week, we announced our upcoming new report on Pet Medications Home Delivery.  There’s a lot of activity in the space – both veterinary home delivery and retail-to-consumer – and it’s important to realize the benefits of this service brings to overall pet health.

Veterinarians play a crucial role in promoting home delivery services for pet medications. This convenience-driven approach simplifies pet care for owners, ensuring timely medication refills, and boosting compliance. By advocating for these services, veterinarians empower pet owners to prioritize their pets’ health, while fostering trust and loyalty, as clients appreciate the added convenience.  In short, promoting home delivery aligns with today’s digital age expectations. It positions your practice as forward-thinking and client-centric.

Home delivery of pet medications can enhance care, convenience and compliance. In an era where convenience matters, endorsing home delivery is not only beneficial for pets, it can also help strengthens the bond between veterinarians and their clients.

Richard Hayworth

Today’s newsletter contains an item about legislation to address the shortage of veterinarians in rural communities.  In 2003, Congress passed the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program that provided loan repayment support for veterinarians practicing in qualified rural areas.  However, evolution of the federal tax withholding laws now substantially limits the benefits actually received by beneficiaries.

To remedy this, bills have been introduced in both the Senate and the House to create exemptions for payments received under this program.  The bills have bipartisan support in both chambers.  Correcting this unintended effect should, in normal times, be a simple fix.  However, as we again face a shutdown of the government (at least at the time I write this) due to legislative gridlock, it would be a real disappointment to see this initiative falter due to the logjam caused by the current posturing.  Let’s hope that our Congress can get back to its intended work that benefits the citizens.

Twenty years ago, when the original bill was passed to support veterinarians in rural areas, it was a good idea.  Today, passing a fix for the technical difficulties with that bill is still a good idea.  Encourage your Senators and Representatives to support this worthwhile legislation even in this time of crisis; it’s the right thing to do.

Jim Kroman

Some surprises in the talent world these days. Employers are casting wider nets to keep up with increasingly competitive talent demand and rethinking traditional guidelines, even rules. SHRM has posted articles describing these burgeoning workforce trends:

1. Loosening requirements for college degrees – greater focus on training, skill sets, and personality traits
2. More willingness to hire job-hoppers – this appears to be more common among GenZ and Millennials
3. Increase in annual pay raise percentages – now averaging a budget of around 4.4%
4. Increased interest in fractional C-Suite roles – I’ve personally come across two in our industry in the past month.

We’ve come a long way from the mandatory 9-5, 40-hour workweek with lifetime employment and pensions! These developments may be due to the shifts in talent and labor supply and demand. They may also reflect generational shifts, Covid-related changes in priorities and lifestyle, recent hikes in inflation and interest rates, etc. Perhaps the pendulum will swing back, but these are at least current trends.

While our industry continues to hold closer to tradition, we can see and feel these trends creeping into our hiring practices. How can we take advantage of these trends?

Jeff Santosuosso

Along with some of my Brakke colleagues, we recently attended the KC Animal Health Corridor event. Kudos to the organizers as the show ran smoothly and gave an excellent opportunity for interaction between the various stakeholders. Attending these sort of events in my opinion is a good investment to improve animal health in all its iterations.

I read an article recently that the author talked about in the post COVID world, we are paying ‘5 Star prices for 2 Star service’. The author couldn’t be more right as we see prices go up dramatically but service goes down, almost at the same inverse proportion. Take travelling on airlines: prices for economy now are what we used to pay for first class. And good luck getting there on time, and God help you if you have a delay. That happened to me (like all of us) and you try to call in to get help – when after several instructions on key-padding info, they tell you to get on the website for faster service. Which you do, and then it tells you can’t do anything online – you need to call. Then you call back and they tell you the wait is anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. Or you can experience AI by messaging a chatbot. Who tells you eventually they cannot do anything – you have to call.

On a recent flight that landed on time (late in the evening), there wasn’t enough help to bring the plane to the gate – nor offload – so we waited almost 1 hour. You get the impressions; and I’m sure all of you have similar or better (worse) stories.

The point of all of this is to raise awareness that in my view, customer service, meeting and exceeding expectations trumps all. And as important as innovation is (as we witnessed at the KC corridor event), we cannot forget the fundamentals of business – of which customer service is arguably the most important. How is your company doing? Are you measuring it correctly and setting plans to constantly improve? Maybe offering 5-star service for a 2-star price is the ultimate competitive advantage!

Paul Casady